American Airlines Refreshes Inflight Experience, Doubles Access to Warm Destinations From Chicago
- Joe Breitfeller
- May 2
- 3 min read
American Airlines is reimagining their flight experience this month with a fresh lineup of enhancements, from snack-time favorites to seamless service enhancements. For winter 2025/26, the carrier is also doubling service from Chicago to fun and sun destinations.

On Thursday (May 1, 2025), American Airlines announced that they are refreshing their inflight experience this month with enhancements designed to surprise and delight guests, from snack-time favorites to seamless service enhancements and more. The carrier will debut the Tostitos Snack Box, a fan favorite combo of Tostitos Bite Sized Rounds and Tostitos Chunky Salsa, which will be available on flights over 1,300 miles for $9 or 900 AAdvantage® miles. LaCroix Lime will also be replaced with LaCroix Limoncello, the winning new citrusy and creamy flavor voted in by American’s customers and team members.

American Airlines Introduces Afternoon Tea on Inbound Flights From London and Paris - Courtesy American Airlines
Additionally, American is testing a new afternoon tea experience on inbound flights from London and Paris. Customers across all cabins will be able to enjoy this classic European ritual which has been reimagined for the sky, complete with tea service and carefully curated accompaniments, including finger sandwiches and scones, along with crème and jelly. Bang and Olufsen headsets will also be available on all U.S. inbound Flagship® service flights, Hawaii Flagship® service flights and transcontinental Flagship® service flights. First and Business customers can simply leave the headsets at their seat when they deplane.
On the inflight entertainment (IFE) front, American is adding original streaming content from QVC+ and HSN+ to their lineup. Customers can now watch lifestyle shows such as ‘Busy this Week’ by Busy Philipps, and ‘Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone’ for celebrity interviews, culinary inspiration and more, or ‘LifeStyled’ to learn how to level up on everything from wardrobes to homes.

In a separate press release on Thursday (May 1, 2025), American Airlines announced that they will add seven new sunny destinations from Chicago (ORD) for winter 2025/26 including five new international destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. The carrier will also increase frequencies on current routes, while doubling capacity to warm weather destinations from ORD this winter. New routes from Chicago this winter will include service to Curacao (CUR); St. Croix (STX); St. Maarten (SXM); Guatemala City (GUA); and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). Additionally, American is adding new service from Chicago to Roanoke, Virginia (ROA), and Akron/Canton, Ohio (CAK).
In Thursday’s announcement, American’s Vice President of ORD Operations, Ben Humphrey, said,
“As we get our first taste of spring in Chicago, we are already looking ahead to giving our customers a reprieve from the bitter Midwest winter with more than double the flights to popular vacation spots. Building on our major Chicago expansion, we continue to strengthen our network and reaffirm our commitment to the Chicago communities we serve — our loyal customers, the local economy and our team members who are the driving force behind our operation.”

For winter 2025/26, American will offer more service than any other airline from Chicago to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, including convenient access to popular getaways like St. Thomas (STT); Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (GCM); Aruba (AUA); and Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) — which will all be increasing from one flight per week to up to daily service. Building on their status as the largest airline in Mexico, with service to 30 destinations in the country, American will also add more flights from Chicago to Cancun (CUN), Los Cabos (SJD) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR).
Source: American Airlines